New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Hanna Barakat, announces her new single, "Leave Your Light On," ahead of the upcoming album, Siren, due out August 16, 2019, produced by John Moyer (Disturbed). It premiered on Substream Magazine.
Born in
Texas to an American mother and a Lebanese father, Barakat spent her early years traveling around the world with her family. Barakat pays homage to her roots on the album.
The album was produced by John Moyer, bassist from famed hard rock band, Disturbed, mixed by
Martin Nessi (Michael Jackson estate,
Ariana Grande, Josh Groban,
Celine Dion,
Andrea Bocelli, Ricky Martin,
Kelly Clarkson), and mastered by Ted Jansen of Sterling Sound (Disturbed, Evanescence, Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin, Halestorm, Pat Metheny).
Barakat states on "Leave Your Light On:""Society portrays love like a fairy tale, and if the relationship you're in is not picture perfect, there's always someone else out there to sweep you off your feet and ride off into the sunset with. Reality tells us that pairing lives with another soul is one of the hardest things two people can do on this earth. Relationships take constant care, devotion, patience, and a hell of a lot of strength. We all go through periods of depression, weakness, physical or psychological traumas, and we need help. We need people in our lives to lift us up and hold us tight while we recover. Leave Your Light On is an honest plea between two lovers to do just that - be strong for one another in tumultuous times - Be each other's light - their pillar of strength - and know that it is an ebb and flow - the roles will most certainly be reversed not long down the road. This is what relationships are built on."
Barakat beautifully describes the inspiration behind the album:
"I chose the title, Siren, for my debut record, after John Moyer and I produced our final song together, which happened to be "Siren." The power of the music and the lyrics filled me with such fire. It motivated me and inspired me to take this next step in my journey with such confidence. Though the song references the mythical sirens of the sea, I loved the idea of a double meaning: an actual siren, warning call, alarm! The songs on this record were written over a span of 10 years. These songs have been my comfort and my therapy, as I've journeyed this world, witnessed injustices, engrossed myself in my ancestral culture, grown within myself, literally travelled the globe, loved, lost, failed, loved again, and struggled to reach the place where I am today. I want to bring awareness to these situations, not by forcing any political agenda, but by pushing for love, understanding, and acceptance of all the other humans walking this earth together. Throughout history, there have been unnatural walls physically erected, or socially accepted and perpetuated, in order to divide people. I want to tear those walls down. All of them. Through my music, with rock guitars, heavy drums, deep rhythmic bass lines, and my intricate vocal melodic lines and punchy harmony stacks, I have chosen to forge arabic instruments like the oud, kanun, frame drum, riqq, into my sonic landscape, where I feel they so naturally and appropriately belong."
Debuting her singing talents as a child from under dining tables at family gatherings, Hanna's innate passion lead her on great adventures, opening doors to opportunities such as performing at the TD Bank North Gardens Stadium with the
New Kids on the Block for their comeback tour, facing a sold out 37,000 person stadium.
While attending Berklee College of Music,
Hanna was finally able to dive into Arabic music through the middle eastern fusion ensemble. From there, she performed with distinguished artists such as
Simone Shaheen, Bassam Saba, Erkan Ogur, and Laço Tayfa's Hüsnü Şenlendirici.
Hanna personally directed and performed in the group representing the
Middle East in the Berklee International Folk Festival.
Hanna also performed and worked alongside artists such as Paula Cole, Don Was, Philip Bailey, Lailah Hathaway, Burt Bacharach, and many others. It was at that pivotal time in Hanna's musical journey that she realized she had to find a way to join rock music, which she loved so much, with influences from the Arab world, whether that be through arab instrumentation, the language, or with ornamentation and infections in her vocal melodies.
Barakat's unique style merges Arab-oriental influences, as well as hard rock, for powerful and genuine connections with her audience. Socially and politically charged, her passion-driven compositions and performances often add eastern ornamentation, as well as other musical influences to transcend language and borders to touch the heart. "It is amazing to see musicians from various backgrounds, religions, mindsets, prejudices, and upbringing, that would normally separate them, join together and produce such brilliant sounds," says Barakat. "Those unique situations are the fertilizer for peaceful soil, and this Earth needs much more of that." She aims to connect with others, both those displaced from their homelands, being influenced by multiple cultures around them, while simultaneously reaching mainstream audiences that appreciate writings of personal encounters, relationships, life issues, and, of course, love.
After graduation,
Hanna headlined at the
Boston House of Blues main stage before moving to Beirut, Lebanon, to pursue two of her true loves: music and the Arabic language.
Hanna was well received and performed her original rock fusion music throughout the region, namely at Beirut's Hard Rock Cafe. From there, the world has been her stage, traveling, and performing across the Middle East, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, where she currently calls Austin, Texas, home.
